Gbaist-sefabatok



J. H. LEE AND 1. c. DIECKMAN.

GRAIN SEFARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-31.1918.

Patented Dec. 2, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

v INVENTORS J ohf\ }(LQe. "4 John :biemkman ATTORNEY-S 1. H. LEE AND 1. c. DIECKMAN.

GRAIN SEPARATOR. APPLICATION FILED OGT- 3|. i918.

Patented Dec. 2, 1919. I

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I "5- 2 g i L 7 {D INVN .s

' ATTORNEYS warren s'rarns ra'inwr ewes.

JOHN HAYS LEE AND JOHN CLAVIS DIEGKMAN, OF ROME. INDIANA.

GRAIN-SEPARATOR.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN H. LEE and JOHN DIEOKMAN, citizens of the United States, residing at Rome, in the county of Perry and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Separators; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a grain separator and particularly to a structure adapted to separate by gravity wheat or other grain material from vetch and foreign matter of greater specific gravity.

The invention has for an object to provide a novel and improved construction of separator embodying an endless belt or carrier mounted to travel in an inclined plane beneath the feed hopper and provided with means for vibrating the belt during its traveling movement.

Another and further object of the invention is to provide an improved construction and arrangement of the vibrator comprising arms extending radially from the shaft and provided with contact rollers adapted to engage a traveling belt.

Anotherobject of the invention is to provide a secondary belt'u'pon which the material falls after the primary separation and having disposed adjacent the upper surface thereof a fan with an adjustable gate to direct a current of air to assist in the separation by retarding the movement of the grain upon the belt during the" separating action.

Other and'fu'rther objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter set forth and the novel features thereof defined by the appended claims. 7

In the drawings: Figure 1' is a side elevation of the separator;

Fig. 2 a vertical longitudinal section;

Fig. 3 a detail plan of one of the agitators;

Fig. 1 a similar view of the fan casing; and p I Fig. 5 is a detail cross section through the belt.

Like numerals refer to like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

The numeral 10 designates the base of the framework for supporting the separator which may be of any desired construction Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 2, 1919.

Application filedOctober 31, 1918. 7 Serial No. 260,498.

or configuration and in the present instance is shown as comprising vertical standards 11 at each end connected at the top by a framework 12. The separator frames 13 and 14 are of substantially the same construction. The upper conveyer frame is provided at opposite ends with bearing rollers 15 and 16 adapted to carry the belt or conveyer 17 which is preferably formed of canvas or other fabric having a relatively smooth supporting surface for the material. The frame 13 maybe pivotally supported in any desired manner, for instance by means of bolts 19 passingtherethrough and mounted in the vertical standards 11. The inner end of the frame 13 is supported by the hanger 20 which is slotted, as at 23, and

carries a supporting block 21 adjustably' clamped in said slot by means of a bolt 22. This hanger at its lower end is connected to the separator frame 14 to support the inner endthereof as shown at 62. The upper end ofthe hanger is adjustably supported upon the top frame 12 by means of a series of apertures 24; through one of which a securing' bolt 25 passes into a fixed part of the frame. The standards 11 are also provided with a series of apertures 68 by which the pivoting bolts 19 may be adjusted to change the vertical inclination of the outer end of the frame 13.

The surface of the belt 17 may be supported in any desired manner where loaded with grain, for instance by means of cross bars 18 extending between the sides of the frame. The belt is also adapted to be stretched and held under longitudinal tension by an adjustment of its bearing roller 16 which as shown in Fig. 1 is mounted in a slidable bearing 64 from'which a threaded bent downward at an angle thereto, as at 69, and secured to the canvas belt 17 by a strip 70 of leather or other material. This raises the bar above the unobstructed separating surface of the belt or conveyer soas not'to intereferewith' the action thereof and the strips guard against accidental loss of the grain at the side edges of the belt.

For the purpose of vibrating the conveyer belt 17 to assist in the separation of material fed thereto, a novel and improved form of vibrator or knocker is provided which is deposited upon a lower separating belt comprises a shaft 26 having radially ex: tending arms 27 carrying at their outer ends contact wheels 28 adapted to engage the under surface of the belt and effect .asuccession of sharp blows thereon causing the- The material delivered from' the belt 17 30 of similar construction to the first mentioned belt and likewise supported upon a cross bars 31 extending between the sides of the frame. Th1s belt 1s also provlded with.

tension rods 71 secured thereto similarly to the rod 68 before described and the conveyer belt is vibrated by a device similar to the vibrator 26 mounted upon the cross shaft 34 carried by the frame 1 1. This frame ispivotally supported by means of bolts 38 extending through any one of a series of apertures 7 2 formed in the vertical standards 11 and the conveyer 30 is retained in longitudinally. stretched position by means of a sliding bearing 7 3 ,connected by a threaded rod 74 with an end plate similar tothe construction of these members before described. 5

Above the conveyer 30 a fan casing 35 is arranged within which a rotatable fan 36 of any desired character is disposed, and the discharge nozzle 87 from this fan extends across the width of the'con'veyer, as shown in Fig. 4: and is adapted to be adjusted with the casing 35 about a transverse axis to direct the current of air downward upon the ,conveyer at any desired angle. This adjustment may be secured by means of a sleeve 76 held in position by a clamp 77 mounted upon the'fan support 78. The

shaft of the fan passes through this sleeveor collar 7 6 so that the parts may be bodily swung toward and from the surface of the The'discharge nozzle 37 of the fan is also provided with a gate 7 9 by which the current of air may beiadjusted in a degree or entirely out off. This gate is pivotally mounted in any'desired manner and may be operated by a'handle extended from the fan casing.

For the Ipurpose of feeding the grain in the proper y distributed manner upon the upper conveyor, a hopper a2 is supported upon the frame 12 in any preferred manner and formed with a discharge opening 43 at its lower end. This" opening is-provided with a longitudinally grooved delivery wheel 44 which is rotated simultaneously with a stirrer 45 disposed within the hopper above thewheel. This rotation may be effected by neans of a gear 46 upon the shaft. of the stirrer which meshes with acooperating gear 46 upon the shaft of the wheel 4A The parts heretofore described may be driven in any desired manner, for instance.

on the shaft of the stirrer 45 may be oper-' ated. This sprocket 57 may be of any desired diameter to effect the preferred speed of rotation for the stirrer and hopper delivery. The main shaft 48 also carries a driving wheel 58 over which a crossed belt 59 extends tothe pulley 60 upon the shaft of the fan 36 and the lower lineof this belt passes over a driving pulley 61 upon the shaft 34 of the vibrator for the lower .con-' veyer. The discharged grain from the upper end of the lower conveyer falls into the receptacle 40 while the material from the lower end thereof falls by gravity into the receptacle39. The discharge from the upper conveyer at its outer end is carried byv means of an inclined chute 11 to the grain receptacle 40. 1

The construction and operation of this separator will be apparent from the fore going description, and it will be observed that the grain is :delivered in small quantities from the hopper falling upon the upper conveyer which is constantly vibrated so that the round particles ofvetch and other material will roll by gravity down the con veyer while the wheat or grain having two axeswill adhere to the belt more closely and be carried upward and discharged at the outer end thereof. Among the material passing by gravity down this conveyer :is

some imperfect or partially developed grain.

in which the axes are not distinctly diflferent, causing them to have arolling movement. Such material is caught by the lower separator and the action of the air current or blast thereon causes 'thegrain to. contact more closely with the surface of the conveyer while the round material not being 7 affected to the same extent rolls downward by gravity, and is discharged in the final 1 smooth condition both longitudinally and laterally and this result is very efficiently performed by means of the adjustment of one roll of the conveyer and the transversely disposed tension bars, which being raised above the surface of the belt do not interfere with the separation but rigidly maintain the belt in a stretched condition. As is well known if depresssions or corrugations occur in a separating belt of this character the grain collects therein and a successful separation cannot be secured. The adjustment of the fan and the regulation of the blast therefrom permit the proper air pressure to be applied to the material upon the lower conveyer so that partial or wholly developed grain is caused to travel with the conveyer while the round material which will rotate from any angle passes down the vibrator belt by gravity. It will be seen that this invention comprises a simple, efiicient and economically constructed form of separator adapted for treating different classes of grain and particularly for the separation of vetch or other foreign matter from the grain.

While we have described specifically the details of construction of the several parts the invention is not confined thereto as defined by the following claims.

hat we claim is:

1. A separator comprising a conveyer belt, transverse rods secured at their ends to the edge portions of the belt for stretching the belt transversely, said rods being spaced from the belt and said belt being unobstructed beneath the rods, and means for vibrating the belt between the ends of said rods.

2. A separator comprising a conveyer belt,'transverse rods spaced above the belt and said belt being unobstructed beneath the rods, and having their end portions secured to the edge portions of the belt, said rods stretching the belt transversely, and means underneath the belt for vibrating it between the ends of said rods.

3. A separator comprising a frame, a pair of conveyers in the frame, one conveyer having one end underneath one end of the other conveyer, the opposite ends of the conveyer being pivotallymounted in the frame, and ineans for jointly adjusting the adjacent ends of the conveyers.

4:. A separator comprising a frame, a pair of inclined conveyers within the frame, the upper end of the one conveyer being located below the lower end of the other conveyer, the opposite portions of the conveyers being pivotally mounted in the frame, and means for jointly adjusting the adjacent ends of both conveyers and independently adjusting the lower end of the upper conveyer.

5. A separator comprising a frame, a pair of conveyers therein, one end of one conveyer being located below one end of the other conveyer, means for pivotally mounting said conveyers in the frame, and means for mounting the adjacent portions of the conveyers and providing for the joint. adjustments thereof and also the relative adjustment thereof.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN HAYS LEE. JOHN CLAVIS DIEOKMAN.

Witnesses:

JOHN D. KRAUSCH, CAssms SHOEMAKER. 

